PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser will undergo a scan Friday to determine how effective two months of chemotherapy has been against his pancreatic cancer.
The scan will take place at the Seattle Cancer Care Center, where Verser, 62, has been receiving treatment while on leave from the bench.
Verser’s wife, Joyce Verser, said the chemo has been applied in varying frequencies reflecting the doctors’ orders.
“We are playing a waiting game,” she said. “He is eager to get back to work, to get back on the bench.”
Verser was stricken with stomach pains in July after which time the cancer was diagnosed.
He has not appeared on the bench since the diagnosis, although he has worked on pleadings from home and participated in some telephonic conferences.
During Verser’s absence, the cases that aren’t covered by court commissioners have been heard by visiting Superior Court judges from Clallam, Skagit, Pierce and Kitsap counties.
The judges preside Fridays and other days as needed, with appearances scheduled by court administrator Michelle Moore. The court is functioning, but some staff members are anxious for Verser’s return.
“We don’t get a lot of continuity and consistency with a visiting judge,” said county Prosecuting Attorney Scott Rosekrans. “We have some cases that have been heard in front of three or four different judges, so we have to bring them up to speed.”
Rosekrans said his office had worked with the public defender to knock down some “marginal” felonies to misdemeanors to decrease the logjam.
Rosekrans said this has worked well so far, but two jury trials are scheduled for November which will require a three-day commitment by a visiting judge.
Defense attorneys also are inconvenienced by the lack of judicial consistency, according to Rosekrans.
“With Judge Verser on the bench, defense attorneys had some idea how he was going to rule based on his past performance,” he said. “That way they could reassure nervous clients.
“But they don’t really know how a visiting judge is going to rule,” he said.
Attorneys can decide they don’t want a case to be heard in front of a certain visiting judge or request that a commissioner’s decision be reaffirmed by an elected judge if they do not like the outcome.
This occurred in the case of the two Quilcene fire commissioners facing recall, who challenged the decision by Court Commissioner Keith Harper that allowed the recall to proceed
The hearing has been rescheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in Port Orchard in front of Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Anna Laurie.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.
bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
